A Case for Zutara
by Lils
Summary: Basically what the title says. A Case for Zutara. As presented by... Sokka? Sokka comes to a few conclusions about his sister and a certain prince. Takes place right after the episode Bato of the Water Tribe. Suggested Zutara, obviously. One shot.


Summary: A Case for Zutara. As presented by… Sokka? Sokka comes to a few conclusions about his sister and a certain prince. Takes place right after the episode Bato of the Water Tribe.

A/N: This popped into my head after watching Bato of the Water Tribe. So, it takes place right after that. This is my first Avatar story, so I tried to keep everyone in character. But yeah, it doesn't always work. I think they are pretty in character though. This is all in Sokka's point of view.

_Disclaimer_: I don't own Avatar.

I'm not an idiot, despite what my sister may say. Trust me, she's wrong. There's no way Momo is as smart as me. She really doesn't know what she's talking about. It doesn't matter if Momo could find more food than I could. I got a little distracted. It's not my fault that Momo just happens to be good at finding food. But like, I said earlier, no matter what Katara may claim, I am not an idiot.

I notice things. I noticed a lot of things during the time we spent with Bato. Specifically, I noticed some suspicious interactions between my baby sister and… I can't bring myself to say it! It's too horrible. Well, after that incident, I decided that I needed to keep a closer eye on Katara. She didn't appreciate it very much.

"Sokka! Will you stop following me?"

It wasn't much of a question, more like an order. But since when do men take orders from their baby sisters?

"I just want to make sure you're safe from firebenders," I said, emphasizing the firebender part.

"We're on a deserted island."

She had a point there.

Maybe.

"Doesn't matter. It's my job as your big brother to protect you from… everything."

"But Sokka," she protested. Probably about to go off on how she was capable and all that. I didn't really care. I knew she was capable of protecting herself from murderous firebenders. I was more worried about her protecting herself from hormonal firebending princes. _If_ she even wanted too, that is. She probably wanted to go run away with him ever since he tied her to a tree. Girls think that kind of stuff is romantic. Figures.

"No, Katara," I said firmly. I wasn't about to let her walk off by herself. It didn't matter if the island was deserted. Fire nation troops could show up at any second. They could be landing with that stupid prince of theirs right now.

She was starting to look angry. An angry Katara is not a happy Katara. But that didn't matter as long as she was an angry Katara who was not in the arms of… anyone. It is my duty to protect her, right?

"Sokka, I –"

"I don't care, Katara."

"Sokka, I have to go to the bathroom!"

"Oh."

That was all I could say. I couldn't let her go off by herself. But I wasn't about to watch her… go.

"If that's okay with the all powerful Sokka," she added.

Her sarcasm did not go by unnoticed. I sent her an angry glare. She fiercely returned it and told me to leave. I was going to, but first I had to leave her with some ground rules. I wasn't about to leave her and find some sort of sister-seducing prince had taken advantage of her.

"I am going to go over there for two minutes. Two minutes. When I come back, I expect you to be… done. And not hugging, kissing, touching, looking, or thinking about any firebenders."

"What are you talking about?"

She put a confused look on her face. Probably just to throw me off. Something that dumb firebender probably showed her. She knows what I'm talking about. I'm her big brother. Nothing gets by me. My instincts are (almost) always right! Especially when it comes to baby sisters.

"You know what I'm talking about, Katara."

"No, I really don't."

She put on that innocent look back on her face. The one that always got her out of trouble and me in it whenever we were little. She was hiding something. Well, trying to hide it anyway.

"Come on! You two were so obvious, even Momo could have picked up on it!"

If she said anything about Momo being smarter than me, I swear I was going to… do something. She would be sorry she said it, let's just leave it at that.

"What?"

Nothing about Momo. Good.

"You and… him!"

I couldn't bring myself to say it. I had accepted the fact that my little sister was possibly in love with the evil spawn of the fire nation. Doesn't mean I have to acknowledge him or call him by his name or anything.

"Who?"

"Zuko."

It took me a few minutes and it was a whisper. But I finally managed to say it. And after this point, I will never speak his name again. That dirty firebending prince would work better. Moody scar boy. Angry freak with a ponytail. Hormonal teenage boy lusting after my innocent little sister…

Maybe I should call him by his name.

"Me and Zuko? In love? You're kidding, right?"

She pretended to be disgusted. Pretended. She loved him. I could tell. Although, it was nice to hear her deny it.

"I don't blame you, Katara. It was Zuko and his evil Fire Nation ways. He's… an attractive guy, an evil guy, but also attractive in his own way."

"Are you sure you aren't the one in love with Zuko?"

I glared at Katara. There I was, _trying_ to be sympathetic. And she makes jokes. Ungrateful little sister. No wonder she loves him.

"Don't even try to deny it, Katara. I've got eyes. And that bounty hunter was right, you are too pretty for Zuko!"

She was. My sister deserved way better than a prince. Okay, well, she deserved a prince, I guess. Just not a fire prince. A water prince, or an earth prince, or an air prince. Just someone who isn't a fire prince. Doesn't even have to be a prince. Someone like Aang or Haru or Jet. Well, no, not Jet.

"Zuko is not my boyfriend."

Of course, he wasn't. And Aang isn't the avatar. And I'm not one of the best warriors from the Southern Water Tribe.

"Why didn't you deny it, then?"

It's not like I wanted it to be true. I'd much rather have Katara date someone else. But if she is going to go run off with fire princes, then I wanted to know so I could kill said fire prince before she had a chance to.

"I am denying it."

"Why didn't you deny it when that bounty hunter said that you were his girlfriend?"

Let's see her get out of this one.

"I had other things on my mind!"

Sure she did.

"Like?"

"Like, oh no, we're about to be captured!"

I paused for a moment before saying anything else. It might have been a slightly more pressing concern at the time. I could see her point. I'm not totally unreasonable.

"Fair enough."

"So you believe me?" she asked.

"No."

"What is it now?"

"What about that kiss?"

Let's see her talk her way out of this one. She looked at me with anger and frustration before answering.

"What kiss? I've never kissed Zuko!"

"You asked Aang to kiss Zuko."

No way could she get out of this one. There was nothing she could possibly say that would make me believe otherwise.

"Well, that proves it. I must be in love with Zuko if I want Aang to kiss him," she deadpanned. Okay, she could say that. But, hey, in my defense, Katara likes some pretty weird things. I mean, example one, Zuko.

"You want me to kiss Zuko? I thought you were kidding."

I turned around to see Aang had just joined our conversation. He looked a little shocked at what Katara had just said which I could understand.

"I was kidding. Sokka's just being an idiot," Katara defended.

"Hey!"

What was with Katara's insistence of my idiocy? I'm a lot smarter than she gives me credit for. I was one of the brightest kids in the Southern Water Tribe. Of course, all of the older boys had left for the war. And when I was nine, the next oldest person there (other than Katara) was three. There aren't a lot of people back home.

"Sokka, I'm not in love with Zuko."

"You thought she was in love with Zuko? Why would you think that? Katara would never do that!" Aang protested.

"And you said it was so obvious that Momo would have picked up on it."

"Hey, Momo's smart!"

Still not as smart as me, but he's an intelligent little lemur.

I looked at her suspiciously. Her voice was filled with sarcasm, but she looked sincere. Maybe she was telling the truth. Maybe.

"Sokka, I swear I don't love Zuko."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Don't think that this means that I'm going to stop being an overprotective big brother. And you're not allowed to go near any member of the opposite sex, other than me and Aang, until you're thirty... Other than me."

Avatar or not, Aang's still a guy. He's twelve. It doesn't mean he's won't grow up. And Katara loves those hero types. Who's more heroic than the avatar?

"Fine. Now can you two please leave? I still have to pee."

* * *

Originally, Katara was supposed to go off on her own and say, "Sokka almost figured us out." But then I changed the story, so that it was all from Sokka's point of view, and it didn't really work anymore. But I like this ending too. 


End file.
